LomoAmigo t0m7

You probably have heard of Tom aka t0m7… He’s the one who takes care of the ‘Competitions’-Site in our Online Magazine. Also he continuously helps the community with his amazing Tipsters. Just another fact that makes him the perfect Community Amigo for December. Find out how he discovered Lomography and look at his amazing gallery with photos of 2011.

NAME: Thomas R.
CITY: Stockerau, near Vienna
LAND: Austria
LOMOHOME: t0m7

Tell us something about yourself. How did you come up with your nickname t0m7 and what does it mean?
There’s no real story behind my nickname. My friends call me Tom, but the nicknames Tom, Tom1 and Tom7 aren’t available anymore in most online communities — that’s how I came up with t0m7. Most of my other nicknames are odd or silly, but t0m7 is neutral and timeless.

How long have you been into Lomography and how did you discover it?
It all started with a competition of a small, local blog in April 2010. They offered a Diana Mini as price. I accidentally came across the page and thought the Diana Mini was a kind of digital, vintage style camera. When I found out, it’s a film camera, I thought that’s quite ridiculous (I just got a digital SLR for Christmas and was doing all sorts of experiments with it). But the small retro camera was stuck in my head until I visited the LomoShop and purchased my very own Diana Mini. Rest is history: first crossed film, first WOW, purchase of an LC-A, purchase of a bunch of film, purchase of more and more cameras, and more films, more experiments etc…
I never got to use my old digital SLR again. It’s collecting dust…

What Lomography cameras do you use and which is your favourite?
As far as I remember I own 17 analogue cameras for 35mm and 120mm Film and 10 instant cameras (Polaroid and Instax). But I like my LC-A or rather my LC-A+ best. Which one I get to use depends on the circumstances, but I admire the results of both versions a lot. And I also love the Horizon Perfekt and my Diana F+; none of those stay at home when I’m travelling! And not to forget the amazing Lubitel 166+. And the fantastic LC-Wide. And yes, for sure the Canon A-1… I’d love to have all of those all the time with me. And do different pictures with all of those.

Is there a film you like best?
Generally any kind of slide film. But I actually like the Kodak Elitechrome 100 best, that I got my hands on after buying my LC-A. All Elitechromes have expired between 1977 and 1982, but I haven’t seen such amazing colors and vignetting ever before! Maybe films are a bit like wine, they need their time to get better. I’m pretty lucky as I’ve still got some Elitechromes at home. But I’m also a big fan of the Kodak Ektachromes, Agfa RSX and Fuji Sensia/Velvia 100. And I wish I had more Kodak EIR infrared films in my fridge.

Which photos represent your year 2011.
I think all the photographs, that show of the amazing experiences I had throughout the year. I think I must show them in chronological order:

I like to make snapshots being on such trips. And the camera and film make a magical lomograph out of it. Sometimes when I want to show off a certain idea, I had, I put more effort in photographing. I put up a tripod, use filters and a light meter. My beautiful girlfriend Julia is my model of choice (she likes it, I think ;-)). She’s also a lomographer, check out her LomoHome: jillpossible

Here are some examples from 2011:

If your life had a soundtrack, what are the top 3 songs and why? (artist and song title please!)
Lomography’s the epitome of happiness and adventures and therefore I chose songs that reflects that spirit. Here are my songs:

U2 – Elevation
Social Distortion – Reach for the Sky
Kazzer – Pedal to the Metal
The Ataris – Boys of Summer
The Verve – Lucky Man

Tell us the most unforgettable, strangest, funniest, or worst photographic/Lomographic encounter you have ever had.
Basically everything I experience with my LC-A is a fantastic adventure. The Lomo Meet-ups with the guys from Vienna are always funny, fantastic and productive. I’m talking about floriansimon, pulex, somapic and Lomo-Graf. And a priceless moment is, when you’re taking a picture of your friends with a Lomo and someone comes along and asks what the picture looks like. And then they look completely puzzled, when seeing the back of your camera.

Is there a Lomography Product you wish to spot under the Christmas tree?
Ummm… maybe a Horizon Kompakt? This camera is more compact and you can do double expousres with it. And I also want to get my hands on the Holga WPC. Or a bunch of films would be awesome!

Any New Year’s resolutions for 2012?
I wanted to do some double projects 2011, that never worked out. But right now a lot of my friends have Lomo cameras and so I think we’ll be doing some doubles. And I want some huge prints of my black-and-white-films. But all in all I’m pretty satisfied with my photographs from 2011. And I hope the ones from 2012 will be equally good.

What tips can you give other Lomographers?
There’s an easy rule:
LC-A + Rule #1 + silde film (+ sun) = fantastic photographs!
And for all those who complain about developing costs: Buy a scanner and chemicals and develop films on your own! This saves money.
A nice tip: Don’t take care of your cameras! Mine had to go through a lot like water slides, roller coasters, jumps from high above and a lot more. I had lots of fun and got great photographs:

Last but not least, a pretty awesome link: www.lomoforum.de – the most friendly forum, you could ever imagine. I got 90% of my lomographic knowledge from that place. Thanks to all members

written by zonderbar on 2013-01-09 #people #interview #november #lomoforum #lomoamigo #lomograph #t0m7 #top-lomograph #fotoserie